Masonry And Every-Day Life.

MASONRY AND EVERY-DAY LIFE .

Address given by Past Grand Master the Rev . W . N . Ackley , at the Dedication of Memorial Statue of Thomas A . Doyle , in Providence , 3 rd June 1 SS 9 . EVERY institution , like the individual man , must expect to be judged on a twofold basis—upon the ground of its inherent character and its relations with that with which it is surrounded , its power to perform for the

world those offices suggested in its principles . To be entitled to recognition as a factor in our busy life it must demonstrate its ability to touch society with vital influence . Great truths may be engrossed upon enduring materials ,

sealed and laid away , securely guarded from the eye and touch of men . But to guard truth so is to insult its dignity , to invest it with that too common royalty which is simply impotent isolation from the throbbing life of man . That alone is truly royal which can tolerate the strong gaze of

the world , can respond to the demands of society upon it . In this , as in our religion , the servant is nobler than the Law . The truth is not worth the seeking which has , as it takes shape in our thoughts , no service to render to mankind . And , inasmuch as our Masonic Institution is a monument to truths that are fundamental , so , to warrant

our presence , as its representatives here to-day , must it be a living , working force , bringing its embodied truth into vital connection with the world ' s life . The eye of the loyal Mason glances back into the past , only that it may

more keenly take account of the present , of the needs which may guide into hopeful channels the influence at our

command . As to-day we cluster about this memorial to our honoured chief , whose personality touched with such potent influence the hearts of the people of this great city , and

made itself felt not seldom in the larger commonwealth , because the interests of the people were his own , are there to be seen any features of our institution , with whose stately words we consecrate this statue , that may , like him

we honour , touch the weal of the every-day lives of men ? If the life we revere and the body whose offices we bring are in accord , then are we fitly gathered here . Suffer me for a brief period to centre our thoughts upon

those features of our Masonic institution , which manifest its inherent character and its practical influence upon life , leaving meanwhile those numberless qualities whicb may indeed interest the curious , but which are accidental rather

than inherent . It is the symbol on which the eye rests . The fundamental truth is that which takes possession of the discriminating mind . So , they who find in the sign and ceremony and symbol the essence of Masonry mistake the colour for the texture of the fabric . Just as in a man

tho wealth of power is in the character and the ability to bring that character into vital connection with the interest of men , so it is with our ancient institution . It is a life , a developed life , trained in the school of human necessity .

Its soul is found in the unflagging championship of those immortal truths which underlie even religion , which are tho sanction of all moral conduct , which are the stay of men ' s hearts in life ' s extremest hours . We need

not linger to set forth anew here those old truths , ever new to each new life , to each life newly awakened to the highest things—the truth about God , eternity , immortality , responsibility j truths echoing through all the

language of our forms , flashing out in our varied ceremonial , ft has been said that persons dwelling in close intimacy with strong and noble souls grow by degrees into their likeness . The Mason dwells in the presence of embodied

truth , whose voice speaks ever the same unvarying coun sel , and appeals to him with the same eternal sanctions

Something of truth ' s glorious features should shine out ere long in the lineaments of his character . And need we wonder , in the light of these facts , that so often the silveryhaired veteran in our ranks , to whom long ago life ' s

playthings had lost their charm , and who is growing more and more to value things according to their essential qualities , should enter our asylums with fresh , warm devotion to a brotherhood he has known so long . He has dwelt in the

presence of truth personified in our stately ceremonial and been suffused with its lofty spirit . The life of the man and of every lasting institution must anchor itself in those

immutable truths which lie at the root of all religion and of all morality . And so , while Masonry never intrudes itself unbidden within the sacred domain of religion , never

assumes to do more than second and farther that work committed especially to the Church of Christ , never

haughtily frowns upon other groups of men seeking the same noble ends , it plants itself solidly upon the immutable doctrines of God , of eternity , of a resurrection to tho immortal life , of responsibility to the God of heaven for tho

lives we live . Upon these foundations rises our Masonic structure , and they who dwell within its sacred precincts dwell where God is , whore truth reigns , aro guilty of

profaning the sacredness of heavenly things when word or act fails to accord with tho spirit of the divino law . Symbolic ceremony , traditional and historic illustrations combine within our walls to implant indelibly those divino

teachings upon the hearts of our disciples . But they are guilty of grave error who pronounce Masonry a thing of the past , because its lessons are couched in ancient symbolism and because it deals in eternal verities . Eternity reaches forward as well as backward—forward always to every soul truly awake to the grandest things . The conservative tenacity of Masonry for immutable truth is its safeguard , the ground of its power to be a sure and lasting help to the interests of men . Only the spirit of anarchy would chango that which ought to be counted

immutable . But , just as eternity touches time by including it within itself , so theso eternal principles touch tho ever-varying interests of humanity . They who are well

versed in the teachings of Masonry will wonder at their breadth of range , at their vivid setting forth of the facts and experiences of life . And what does this reveal ? Why , the fact that Masonry has been a growth , that it has grown out of a keen appreciation of those changeless troths

we have catalogued , and , in addition to that , a clear , sympathetic knowledge of the longings and needs of humanity . Through unnumbered generations the

handicraft of speculative and symbolic Masonry has been exercised in working into its structure the varied experiences , the drama of human life—setting the whole story to the keynote of principle . What men need and

feel most keenly it has made the subject of its thought and study ; so that , while the world outside may think of us as secluded within a shrine where everything is an ancient , our practical relations are with the living realities of today ; just as lovo and sympathy and sense of mutual

obligation are but empty words , except as they deal with tho real life of the present with which we come in contact . Does society desire to learn a wholesome lesson in the rightful relation between the so-called highest and lowest

among its ranks r We will teach them that he who , as our Grand Master , holds the highest office in the gift of Masonry , and with it , an authority extremely exceptional in this modern age ; nevertheless , as far as his fraternal

relations with his fellows and personal character are concerned , stands for what he is worth as a man , on a level as a brother among brethren with the humblest brother moving in the ranks . Come hither and learn among our impressive lessons—oft repeated during the Masonic

lifethis wholesome lesson upon the equality of human rights ,

upon the duty of respecting men accordiug to their inherent worth . Sense of brotherhood must rest upon this conviction . And it is the sense of brotherhood that lifts

love , sympathy , fellowship , generosity , helpfulness out of the low realm of the artificial and the conventional into the domain of the real and the true . Truo , courtly manners are flavoured with the spirit of a real respect for one ' s fellows . And all those virtues , which are but courtly manners wrought into more substantial shapo , become princely in the sterling reality given them by the sympathetic spirit . It is no wonder that the founders of Masonry , schooled so well in the needs of men , should

have wrought the great , inclusive duty of charity all through our ceremonial teachings . This virtue , so slowly learned by a cold humanity , becomes the natural , logical deduction from a conviction of the brotherhood of men .

teach first the lesson of brotherhood . Generosity of spirit and of deed is its angelic sequel . You are teaching an impotent law of conduct , when your charity of heart is not put before , as a cause , that charity of act , whoso symbol is the open hand , the belpful deed . We have time to do scarcely more than say how this great lesson of brotherhood deserves to be first always , to bo oftenest repeated in the ears of men and how in it we touch all the duties of man to man . Let the spirit of brotherhood and consequent charity of heart find a

wel-The man who sees in mau his brother , and is keenly sensitive to the fact , cannot do less than love his own . So we